Astro has left the building... UB40s best
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Astro (UB40)
UB40 is nothing without their first performers ..so thats why we shared this on History ....
Terence Oswald Wilson (Birmingham, 24 juni 1957 - 6 november 2021) beter bekend onder zijn artiestennaam Astro, was een Brits-Jamaicaans muzikant.
Hij was de trompettist en zanger van de reggaeband UB40.
Wilson begon echter als roadie; hij kondigde de band aan en mocht af en toe meedoen als praatzingende toaster.
Dit beviel zo goed dat hij al snel een vaste plek kreeg als tweede zanger naast Ali Campbell; nummers die hij voor zijn rekening nam waren onder andere de tweede helft van Madame Medusa (een aanklacht tegen premier Thatcher), de rap in Red Red Wine en de #1-hit Rat In Mi Kitchen.
In 2013 stapte Wilson uit UB40 dat al jaren gebukt ging onder een financieel wanbeleid en in zijn ogen "een stuurloos schip" was geworden.
Hij heeft nog wel bijgedragen aan Getting Over the Storm met bewerkte countrysongs; een genre waar hij zich niet in kon vinden ondanks de enorme populariteit binnen de Afro-Caribische gemeenschap, hetgeen de aanleiding vormde om dit album op te nemen.
Samen met de eerder opgestapte Campbell en toetsenist Michael Virtue vormde Wilson in 2014 een eigen UB40; optredens worden aangekondigd met vermelding van hun namen.
Sinds eind 2018 bestond de kern uit Wilson en Campbell.
Op 6 november 2021 is Terrence Oswald Wilson (Astro) na een kort ziekbed overleden.
Wat Wilson precies mankeerde, is niet bekendgemaakt.
Hij was 64 jaar.
Zijn laatste opnamen zijn te horen op het album Unprecedented.
UB40 are an English reggae band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England.
The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart and has also achieved considerable international success.
They have been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times and were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group in 1984.
UB40 have sold more than 70 million records worldwide.
The ethnic make-up of the band's original line-up was diverse, with musicians of English, Welsh, Irish, Jamaican, Scottish, and Yemeni parentage.
Their hit singles include their debut track "Food for Thought" and two Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits, "Red Red Wine" and "Can't Help Falling in Love".
Both songs also topped the UK Singles Chart, as did the band's version of "I Got You Babe", recorded with Chrissie Hynde.
The band's two most successful albums, Labour of Love (1983) and Promises and Lies (1993), both reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.
UB40 and the English ska band Madness share the record for the most weeks spent by a group in the UK singles chart during the 1980s, with 214 weeks each.
The band's line-up remained stable for nearly 29 years, from March 1979 until January 2008, when frontman Ali Campbell left the band, followed shortly thereafter by keyboardist Mickey Virtue.
Another member, Astro, continued with the band until November 2013, when he departed to team up with Campbell and Virtue in a new version of UB40.
In 2014, legal advice was sought by the original band (now consisting of remaining co-founding members drummer Jimmy Brown, guitarist Robin Campbell, bassist Earl Falconer, percussionist Norman Hassan, and saxophonist Brian Travers, along with new vocalist Duncan Campbell), who took action against the group formed by Campbell, Virtue, and Astro over the use of the band name, as both parties were using it.
On 5 July 2021, it was announced that Matt Doyle, formerly of the reggae band Kioko, would become the band's new vocalist following Duncan Campbell's retirement due to ill health.
The band members initially formed friendships while attending various schools across Birmingham, England. The name "UB40" was chosen in reference to an attendance card issued to individuals claiming unemployment benefits from the UK government's Department of Employment.
The designation UB40 stood for Unemployment Benefit, Form 40.
The origins of what would become UB40 can be traced back to mid-1978, when guitarist Ali Campbell, along with drummer Jimmy Brown and bassist Earl Falconer, began rehearsing a mix of popular reggae covers and their own original compositions.
They were soon joined by several friends, first percussionists Yomi Babayemi and Norman Hassan, followed by saxophonist Brian Travers and keyboardist Jimmy Lynn.
Although Robin Campbell was initially hesitant to commit to forming a band, he eventually joined after being persuaded by his brother Ali.
He bought a guitar in December of that year to participate in their jam sessions.
With Robin's inclusion, the eight musicians officially formed a band, choosing the name "UB40" after a friend suggested it as a fitting reference to their shared unemployed status at the time.
Before fully committing to the band, Travers had been working as an electrical apprentice for NG Bailey, while Robin Campbell had been an apprentice toolmaker.
This line-up of the band lasted long enough to perform their first show at the Hare & Hounds pub in Kings Heath in February 1979 and one more gig before undergoing their first line-up change.
Babayemi and Lynn left the group, with Mickey Virtue joining as keyboardist in place of Lynn.
The classic UB40 line-up was completed a month later with the addition of percussionist and vocalist Astro, who had previously worked with Duke Alloy's sound system and attended reggae dances across Birmingham.
Before some of the members had learned to play their instruments properly, Ali Campbell and Brian Travers travelled around Birmingham promoting the band by putting up UB40 posters.
The bandās distinctive sound was developed and refined through numerous lengthy jam sessions held at various locations around the city.
Their first gig took place on 9 February 1979 at The Hare & Hounds Pub in Kings Heath, Birmingham, for a friend's birthday party.
This was commemorated in October 2011 by the unveiling of a plaque at the venue, recognising the band receiving the Performing Rights Society's Music Heritage Award.
UB40 had their first significant opportunity when Chrissie Hynde saw them perform at a pub and invited them to support her band, The Pretenders.
The band's debut single, "King"/"Food for Thought", was released on Graduate Records, a local independent label run by David Virr.
It reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart.
The title of their first album, Signing Off, signifies that the band was signing off from, or ending, their claim for unemployment benefits.
It was recorded in a bedsit in Birmingham and produced by Bob Lamb.
Norman Hassan remarked of the recording: "If you stripped my track down, you could hear the birds in the background."
This is because his tracks were recorded outside in the garden.
Signing Off was released on 29 August 1980.
It entered the UK Albums Chart on 2 October 1980 and spent a total of 71 weeks on the chart.
Signing Off is now a Platinum album.
As UB40 gained in popularity, they encouraged and supported local musicians and bands from Birmingham, such as Beshara, often bringing them on tour.
Following great success in the UK, UB40's popularity in the US was solidified with the release of Labour of Love, an album of cover songs, in 1983.
The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and number 14 on the Billboard 200 in the US five years later.
The album featured the song "Red Red Wine", a cover version of a Neil Diamond song (arranged similarly to Tony Tribe's version); it reached number one in the UK in 1983 and number one in the US in 1988.
Three years later, UB40 performed at the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986. In 1987, Ray "Pablo" Falconer, the producer of UB40's music, died in a car crash.
His brother, Earl Falconer, the band's bassist, was driving with nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood.
Earl was sentenced to six months' imprisonment in June 1988 and banned from driving for three years.
On 11 June 1988, UB40 performed at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in London, alongside Dire Straits, George Michael, Whitney Houston, the Bee Gees, and other artists.
Their most successful worldwide single release is their reggae/pop version of "(I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You," which was the main title for the 1993 Sharon Stone movie Sliver; it was a number one hit across Europe and in the US.
In 1995, they covered the Stevie Wonder song "Superstition" for the Eddie Murphy movie Vampire in Brooklyn, and it appears on their album The Best of UB40 ā Volume Two, released that year.
The group also made a guest appearance in the 1997 feature film Speed 2: Cruise Control.
UB40 also featured in the 1988 film The Yob.
In July 2007, UB40 toured South Africa and headlined the Live Earth concert at the Cradle of Humankind, near Johannesburg.
In 2003, UB40 and the United Colours of Sound recorded "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" as the official anthem for the England national rugby union team.
Following England's victory in the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, it reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart.
On 24 January 2008, it was announced that Ali Campbell would be leaving the group after 30 years.
Initially, it was stated that Campbell was departing to focus on solo projects, but Campbell later revealed that he was leaving "due to management and business disputes."
The remaining seven members issued a statement, saying: "Ali made a very simple decision; he chose to pursue and prioritise his solo career over continuing to work with UB40 after February 2008.
It's as simple as that".
Mickey Virtue departed shortly thereafter, citing the same issues as Campbell had as the reasons for his departure.
It was reported by some Birmingham newspapers on 13 March 2008 that Maxi Priest would be the new lead singer of UB40 and had recorded a cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" with the band, based on information from an unnamed "source close to the band."
Priest had joined UB40 on their arena tour in 2007, culminating in sell-out shows at the NEC Birmingham in December.
Another local newspaper reporting that Maxi Priest would be the new UB40 frontman also included a statement from band spokesman Gerard Franklyn, which contradicted this claim: "Maxi is collaborating with the band to record material, but no decision has been made to replace Ali Campbell with one definitive singer. The reports are half correct; he will be appearing with them for this new recording."
In April 2008, the BBC reported that Campbell was to be replaced in the band by his brother Duncan, with reggae singer Maxi Priest also bolstering the line-up on tour.
The band released their next album, TwentyFourSeven, UB40's last with their classic line-up, as a free insert in The Mail on Sunday's 4 May 2008 issue.
The newspaper sold nearly three million copies.
This led to a backlash when the full 17-track version was released on 21 June 2008, and most of the major retailers refused to stock it.[citation needed] It failed to reach the Top 75 in the UK, marking a first, as all their official albums had previously made the Top 50 on the UK Albums Chart.
Their next release, on EMI, was a compilation titled Love Songs, featuring hits mainly from the Labour of Love series, all of which featured Ali Campbell on vocals ā it reached number 3 in the UK.
The band toured the US, including their first show at the Hollywood Bowl.
In 2009, the band released their first new album with their new lead singer Duncan Campbell, another entry in the Labour of Love cover series entitled Labour of Love IV.
The album charted for only two weeks, reaching number 24.
During the 2009 US tour, UB40 offered fans live concert recordings on USB wristbands.
The wristbands also included the Dub Sessions remix album and photos.
UB40 announced that after completing a coast-to-coast 2010 American tour, they would be playing a nationwide UK tour of theatres in October/November 2010, performing their seminal album Signing Off in full, along with a second set of popular UB40 songs.
To coincide, on 1 November 2010, a remastered 2CD+DVD of Signing Off was released as a '30th Anniversary Special Edition'.
In 2011, five founding members of the group and directors of their DEP International label had bankruptcy proceedings initiated against them in relation to debts of the record label.
In October 2011, Travers, Wilson, Hassan, and Brown were declared bankrupt.
Former member Ali Campbell was also declared bankrupt.
In 2013, a new album, Getting Over the Storm, was announced, their first since 2010 and Labour of Love IV.
In November 2013, UB40 announced dates for their UK tour in early 2014.
The announcement followed the success of the band's latest Top 30 album, Getting Over the Storm, which was awarded BBC Radio 2's 'Album of the Week' accolade and received five-star reviews from the UK's music press upon its release in September 2013.
On 22 November 2013, Astro announced in a statement that he had left the band, describing it as a "rudderless ship" and criticising the "serious lack of communication between the band and management" as well as the country-oriented direction of their latest album.
Astro joined former UB40 members Ali Campbell and Mickey Virtue on stage at the indigO2 Arena in London on 6 December 2013, and on 17 January 2014, the trio announced on their website that they were in the studio recording new music.
Ali Campbell was highly critical of his replacement in UB40, stating, "I sat back for five years and watched my brother Duncan murdering my songs."
Ali Campbell toured as UB40 with Astro and Virtue over the summer.
The new album, Silhouette, featuring the trio, was set for release on 6 October 2014.
In December 2014, Ali Campbell claimed that he would be prepared to go to the High Court in London over the matter rather than settle out of court.
Duncan Campbell retired from UB40 in June 2021 due to ill health, following a stroke he had suffered the previous year; he was replaced the following month by Matt Doyle of fellow Birmingham reggae band Kioko.
On 22 August 2021, saxophonist Brian Travers died of cancer at the age of 62 in his Moseley home.
On 6 November of that year, former vocalist and founding member Astro died following a short illness at the age of 64.
In August 2022, the band performed "Red Red Wine" at the Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony, with the show also featuring other acts from Birmingham and the West Midlands region, such as Musical Youth, Panjabi MC, Dexys, Ozzy Osbourne and Apache Indian.
They also released the single "Champion" in association with the Commonwealth Games, with this Official Anthem being their first single sung by Matt Doyle.
"Champion" also features Dapz on the Map and Gilly G, and can be found on the On Record compilation of Birmingham-based bands, alongside "It's a Brum Ting" by Friendly Fire Band, the track the BBC used for their Commonwealth Games coverage.
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Rest in peace Astro .... simply the best of UB40 !!
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